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Ch.03.06 the Senso war part two
The Senso war. Part Two
As The Onin war came to an end back in Japan, and the period known as the Sengoku Jidai period began in earnest, the fighting in Alyska was only just beginning. With the Ashikaga managing to keep peace and order in the region even as their power quickly faded in Japan itself. However during the 1470s it had rapidly become apparent to the Diamyo in Alyska that this peace was coming to an end. And so forces were gathered, secret meetings held, and alliances forged, all in preparation for the warfare that all could see was coming.
Fighting was brutal in the early years of what became known as the Senso war. Most records from the period being lost, but several surviving accounts mentioning battles pitting over a dozen small states against one another, with some battles said to have involved over fifty thousand troops and lasted for several days. These battles, as well as several large scale sieges are well documented from the archeological record. With Umiyoshima even being attacked in 1484 by the neighboring city of Nexo.
Two major factions emerged in the early days of the fighting, those who supported the Ashikaga and those who did not. From 1486 until 1490 the Senso war was fought, pitting these two factions against one another.
Again accounts vary wildly about the precise events of the war. But generally it is known that the pro-Ashikaga faction was led by Nexo (a corruption of a native word for stream) with the independence faction led by Umiyoshima. The two sides fought one another for a long period, with neither able to achieve any major advantage until parts of the Nexo army defected, leading to the destruction of the city under after a lengthy siege. This being done in 1487.
During the winter of that year both sides mustered their remaining forces for a final battle. With both factions nearly exhausted, Nexo’s destruction having cost both sides dearly, though the loyalist faction likely took the worst of it. When spring came both sides met outside the city of Ixlaca for what proved to be the pivotal battle of the war.
Records agree that the fighting was unparalleled in its brutality. With both sides committing entirely to the fight. After three days of bitter fighting, during which elaborate networks of trenches and defensive redoubts were built by both sides, Umiyoshima forces were victorious. Routing loyalist troops via an encirclement.
Although the fighting would continue until 1490 the Senso war had essentially ended with the utter destruction of loyalist forces in Alyska. Quickly the victorious faction led by Umiyoshima splintered. Breaking up into a dozen or so new factions. The second age of Ronin had begun.